Survival Camp: Day 2

The second day of Survival Camp was a huge success! The weather stayed pleasant overall, and we learned a great deal of new information about surviving in the wilderness.

We took care of all of the animals this morning. The Red Peppers took care of the young chickens, and we talked about the anatomy of a chicken.

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A Red Pepper holds on of our Isa Brown hens.

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Orange Peppers feeding the goat kids.

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Orange Peppers learning how to hold a goat properly.

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An Orange Pepper holding Duke!

There are 4 main steps to follow if you find yourself lost in the wilderness: Stop, Think, Observe, and Plan. We talked about what each of these steps entail and why they are all important when you are in an emergency situation. We also practiced signaling to each other. Sometimes people are lost or stranded and need to communicate to search and rescue teams that they need help. We learned a few different signals and practiced signaling to each other. Some signals require hand motions while others are letters or symbols displayed on the ground. See if your camper remembers some of the signals we talked about!

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Orange Peppers practice distress signals.

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An Orange Pepper signals that he needs medical attention!

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Yellow Peppers signal to each other from Mt. Woodchip and Dark Mountain.

Tomorrow we will be fishing in the pond, and so we spent some time practicing casting this morning. Learning about water and fishing safety is very important, and we are very careful of our surroundings when we cast so that we don’t accidentally hook a person instead of a fish! We also tie-dyed our camp T-shirts, which will be washed and returned to the campers so that they can wear their shirt on Friday.

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Orange Peppers practice casting.

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A Red Pepper watches his cast fly.

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Red Peppers tie-dye their camp T-shirts.

We made Veggie Sushi this morning with Ms. Pam. The campers got to chop their vegetables and assemble their own roll of sushi with rice and nori. We used carrots, cucumbers, celery, red peppers, and cream cheese for our sushi rolls, and they were delicious!

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Red Peppers chopping their veggies.

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Ms. Pam serves rice for the Red Peppers to make their sushi rolls.

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Red Peppers lay their veggies on their rice and get ready to roll their sushi.

After lunch, we continued to practice building shelters as part of our STEM project. Today, teams of campers were given a backpack with a tarp and different types of rope. We went out to the woods and used other natural materials such as trees and branches to assemble our shelters, and they turned out to be much more substantial than yesterday’s shelters!

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A group of Orange Peppers works on their shelter in the woods.

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An Orang Pepper uses branches and a tarp to construct his shelter.

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Orange Peppers show off their shelter.

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Red Peppers exhibit their shelter.

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Red Peppers with their shelter.

For our afternoon snack, we ate Ants on a Log using celery, SunButter (made from sunflower seeds), and chocolate chips. We also picked some fresh sugar snap peas, nibbled on fruit leather that we dehydrated yesterday, and munched on Maple Syrup Popcorn.

It’s possible to get lost without a GPS to guide you, and if that happens, how would you navigate your way to safety? Understanding how to use a compass is a crucial skill, and we worked on our orienteering skills today. Orienteering is a sport where participants use only a map and a compass to find their way through unfamiliar terrain as fast as they can. Although we didn’t have a full-blown orienteering competition today, our campers learned the basics of navigating via compass.

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Ms. Mandy show the Green Peppers how to use a compass.

Ms. Nicole helps an Orange Pepper use a compass.

Ms. Nicole helps an Orange Pepper use a compass.

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Orange Peppers plant a stake and practice navigating their way back to it.

Staying warm is essential for survival in the wilderness, and there are many ways to keep yourself warm. Building a fire is one method that we practiced today. There are a few different tools that can be used to start a fire that we tried: using a magnifying glass, using matches, and using flint and steel. Luckily, most pepper groups got to try their hand at fire building before the rain hit us!

A group of Red Peppers uses matches to light a fire.

A group of Red Peppers uses matches to light a fire.

Another Red Pepper group tries using flint and steel.

Another Red Pepper group tries using flint and steel.

Red Peppers use a magnifying glass and the heat of the sun to start a fire.

Red Peppers use a magnifying glass and the heat of the sun to start a fire.

We had an awesome day with your campers, and we hope they enjoyed it as much as we did! We’re looking forward to learning more survival skills throughout the rest of the week!

Green Peppers climb on Mt. Woodchip between activities.

Green Peppers climb on Mt. Woodchip between activities.


Veggie Sushi

Ingredients

For the Rice:

1 cup white rice (sushi rice if you can get it)
2 cups water
3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Everything Else:

4 sheets nori (dried seaweed)
1 cup chopped veggies – (carrot, cucumber, red pepper, avocado, etc.)
Soy sauce, pickled ginger, wasabi for serving

Instructions

  1. Start by preparing your rice. Rinse rice in a fine mesh strainer until your water runs clear. Then add to a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Once it boils reduce heat to low, cover and cook until water is completely absorbed – about 15 minutes.
  2. In the meantime, add vinegar, sugar and salt to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat stirring occasionally until sugar and salt are dissolved. Place in a jar or dish and cool in the fridge until rice is ready.
  3. Once the rice is done, kill the heat and add the cooled vinegar mixture and stir with a rubber spatula or fork as to not overmix. It will appear wet but will dry up as you lightly stir to release heat. It should be sticky and completely dry once it’s ready.
  4. In the meantime, prep your veggies by chopping them into thin pieces. If they’re too bulky they won’t allow the sushi to roll well.
  5. Now it’s time to roll: grab a thick towel and fold it over into a rectangle and place it on a flat surface. Top with plastic wrap, then with a sheet of nori. Using your hands dipped in water (to avoid sticking), pat a very thin layer of rice all over the nori, making sure it’s not too thick or your roll will be all rice and no filling.
  6. Then, arrange a serving of your veggies or preferred filling in a line at the bottom 3/4 of the rice closest to you.
  7. Start to roll the nori and rice over with your fingers, and once the veggies are covered, roll over the plastic wrap and towel, using it to mold and compress the roll (see photo). Continue until it’s all the way rolled up.

Maple Syrup Popcorn

Ingredients

1 large bowl of air popped popcorn
2 Tbs of Maple Syrup
2 Tbs of butter

Directions

Melt butter and maple syrup in microwave for 20 seconds or until butter is melted.


Fruit Leather

Ingredients

5 cups strawberries
2 Tbs. maple syrup

Directions

  1. Emulsify the strawberries using an immersion blender. Mix in maple syrup.
  2. Spread strawberry mixture out in a thin layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Dehydrate the fruit blend in a dehydrator at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 4 hours.
  3. Slice dried fruit leather into desired serving size and shape.

 

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